Sepp Blatter: Women's football 'limping behind' men's game

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called on the men’s game to do more to boost the popularity and stimulate the growth of women’s football.

And Blatter, who says he feels like a “Godfather” of women’s football, insists men’s football remains the dominant force and has left the women’s game trailing in its wake.

“I consider myself a little bit as a Godfather of the organisation of women's football in FIFA,” Blatter told BBC Global News.

“So far our game is definitely marked by men’s football and women’s football is still limping a little bit behind that.

“But men’s football should share with women’s football to get new partners. It’s not easy because the market is focused on men’s football.”

According to Blatter, women’s football is played in each of FIFA’s 209 member nations, though he acknowledges the game must still overcome cultural boundaries, particularly in the Middle East.

But the 79-year-old thinks the best female players on the planet have a golden opportunity to blaze a trail for the game they hold so dear at this summer’s 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“Women’s football must market itself,” Blatter added.

“It’s a product and the product must have quality. Now it’s up to the ladies in this World Cup to show that it’s a great event. 

“The television coverage will be done exactly like the FIFA World Cup. There will be over 20 cameras in each stadium and there will be goal-line technology in the stadiums.

"There will be a big public (in attendance) and if it is a success, and I’m sure it will be a success, then it is also a market opener for women’s football in other countries.”